Surgical needles are well known in the medical field. They are generally grouped into two categories: (1) Taper point and (2) Cutting edge, based on needle configuration. In general, taper point needles are used to penetrate thin or soft tissue such as intestinal or muscle tissue, whereas cutting edge needles are used in thicker or denser tissue such as skin or cartilage or any other tissue that is more dense and difficult to penetrate. Both taper point and cutting edge needles come with advantages and disadvantages. While taper point needles do not slice tissue, they can be very difficult or impossible to pass, especially in the denser tissue. In addition they will separate tissue obviously along planes of tissue weakness and these planes may be in an undesirable direction of separation or tear, for example toward or into the wound edge. Cutting edge needles as they are now conformed necessarily slice tissue. While this allows for needle passage in a dense tissue, the slices are in three planes, two of which are parallel to the incision or wound edge and a third plane which is slicing tissue toward the incision or wound edge as with a cutting edge needle, or a third plane directed directly away from the incision or wound edge as with the reverse cutting edge needle design.
Conventional cutting edge needles to date, even with the reverse cutting edge design result in tissue slices that allow and promote tissue gaping at the penetration site, especially with increased tension on the placed suture either from tissue tension during closure or from post-operative swelling.
There is a need in this art for a needle that can penetrate all tissues, both weak and easily distortion from tension placed on the tissue during suture placement and/or from post-operative swelling, both anticipated and unanticipated. Overall result is suture holes requiring less scar tissue to bridge the gap caused by unwanted widening or tearing either during placement or as post-penetration tension as placed on that site by the suture.